Daycare Illness Policies
How to Determine When a Child is Too Sick to Attend Preschool
Symptoms that may exclude a child from daycare or preschool
Children with contagious illnesses must stay home in order to prevent the spread of illness to other children and adults. So how does a parent know when a child is too sick to attend daycare or preschool?
It can be difficult to decide when to keep a child home from daycare or preschool. Dr. Leila M. Iravani, board certified doctor of pediatric and adolescent medicine at Coastal Kids Pediatric Medical Group in Newport Beach, California, provides some basic guidelines:
Keep your child home if he or she has the following symptoms:
- Fever greater than or equal to 100.5 degrees F.
- Moderate drainage (clear or discolored) from the mouth, nose, eyes, or ears.
- Red discoloration to the whites of the eye(s).
- Skin rashes as they are difficult to diagnose unless since by a physician.
- Severe abdominal pain, vomiting or diarrhea.
There are additional symptoms that can exclude a child from attending daycare or preschool according to Dr. Luis Rodriguez, Assistant Executive Director of Quality Improvement & Health Services at Episcopal Social Services. These symptoms include:
- A painful, red throat, even if fever is not present
- A deep, hacking cough
- Difficulty breathing or untreated wheezing
- Complaints of stiff neck and headache with more than one of any of the above stated symptoms
- Yellow discharge from the eyes
- An unusual yellow coloring of the skin or eyes
- Cuts or openings on the skin that are pus-filled or oozing
- Lice or nits
It goes without saying that if you know your child has a contagious disease, by all means, keep them home.
Once a child is excluded from daycare or preschool, parents must then recognize when it is safe for children to return to preschool or daycare. According to Dr. Rodriguez, “To ensure the safety of children and staff, children and adults who have the following conditions will be excluded from the classroom until either the condition subsides, or there is documentation from that individual’s medical provider stating that they are no longer contagious”.
Anytime in doubt or if the child appears uncomfortable it is best to error on the side of caution and avoid daycare or preschool, advises Dr. Iravani.
Excluding a child from preschool or daycare: Criteria for daycare providers or preschool teachers
It is a childcare provider’s responsibility to assess each child as they enter the daycare or preschool facility in order to determine whether they should be excluded due to illness. According to Dr. Iravani, essentially, the same guidelines apply for both parents and care providers at daycare or preschool.
Daycare personnel who care for the children should observe the level of activity of the child (for example if the child is less active or more withdrawn), says Dr. Rodriguez. “This could be a sign that the child is becoming ill or that there is something wrong with his/her usual behavior”. Dr. Rodriguez also notes that it is extremely important to take the child’s temperature and look for any kind of skin rash.
Child care providers should ask parents if their child has been sick or if there is someone at home who is sick. “[At Episcopal Social Services] we use a lot of common sense when assessing the health of the children – treating those children as if they were our own. It is important to coordinate our efforts with advice from each child’s physicians. Phone numbers to both the physicians and the parents are always readily available”.
Many daycare facilities or preschools have an illness policy in place that will explain what symptoms will exclude your child from daycare and when they may return.
For more safety related daycare articles, see Daycare Food Safety.
